


helluva 'vacation'

by rainbowshoes



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2019 [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (oh my), Abandonment Issues, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, And Then He Doesn't, Angst Lite, Arc Reactor Issues, Events of IM1 Discussed, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Kissing, M/M, Minor Violence, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Separations, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, explicit sex in the last chapter, see that chapter for all other warnings, think of this as like castaway but with bucky as wilson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 20:08:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17814695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowshoes/pseuds/rainbowshoes
Summary: For the Tony Stark Bingo 2019Squares filled:S1: Shipwrecked (Ch 1)R5: Desert Island (Ch 2)K3: Merpeople (Ch 3)S5: Carnival (Ch 4)A1: Arc reactor angst (Ch 5)A2: Infinity gems (Ch 6)R3: Science and Magic (Ch 7)K1: Shapeshifters (Ch 8)S2: Heat fic (Ch 9)Pepper and Rhodey join forces against Tony and force him to take some time away from SI after Stane and the palladium poisoning incident. So, for his vacation, Tony gets his yacht and takes it out on the open ocean all by himself. He has to get over his ‘thing’ with water, after all. Only then, there's a storm…





	1. S1: Shipwrecked

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to @[feyrelay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/feyrelay/pseuds/feyrelay) for all the absolutely amazing help with this fic and everything else, seriously ♥♥ i couldn't have done it without you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter is short: 705 words
> 
> first two chapters are very short, the others are longer

The yacht was beautiful. Forty feet, light gray, named the  _ Maria _ after his mother, and one of two he owned. The other was a party boat, naturally, but that hadn't been his goal for this little… vacation, so he'd left it in the boatyard and had taken the smaller  _ Maria _ instead. It had been a couple years since the last time he'd taken her out on the open ocean, but he still remembered every inch of her perfectly. 

He'd had her checked over and had all the general maintenance done before he left, so he hadn't been too worried about leaving the shore far, far behind and heading out into the open waters of the vast Pacific. Getting over his fear of the water was part of the reason he was taking this little trip, after all. He could barely stand to  _ shower _ , much less get in the ocean to swim, but he was determined to get over that shit once and for all. 

Pepper was handling things with SI as his interim CEO. Rhodey was… doing whatever Rhodey did. Tony could check, but hacking the military was ‘illegal’ and he ‘wasn't supposed to do that,’ so he mostly just left well enough alone. The two of them had conspired against him, though, once Stane had finally been arrested and thrown in prison with a sentence of three hundred and seventy years. And during that legal battle he'd dealt with Vanko and Hammer and the palladium poisoning and making a new fucking element. Tony could have fought them, could have probably even won, but it wasn't worth it. He was  _ tired _ . 

So, the yacht. The ‘vacation.’ It was honestly more like a forced sabbatical, but he wasn't complaining - or, at least, he wasn't complaining too much. If he didn't complain at all, Pepper would have thought he'd been body snatched. He had JARVIS installed on his phone, but not on anything else. He had a few tools and parts to fix anything that broke on the boat, but he wasn't out here to work. He was out here to get his head back to rights. Hopefully. 

He found a nice bit of ocean and cut the engine and let the boat just… drift. Sitting out on the deck was easy enough, sure, but it took him three whole days to work up to actually getting  _ into  _ the water. It wasn't as bad as he’d feared, though. Something about the salty taste and the gentle rocking motion helped to put him at ease. He didn't stay in for long that first day, of course, but it was easier, after that. 

And, then, naturally, a storm had to come along. The first one Tony rode through was horrible - for him, not the boat. The boat handled it just fine, in fact, even if a few things fell and broke. Tony did  _ not  _ handle it well. He spent the majority of the few hours it lasted deep in a panic attack, unable to breathe, unable to  _ think _ . But he didn't pass out from hyperventilating, so he supposed that was probably progress. 

The next storm, two days later, was worse. Not a thunderstorm at all, but a fucking  _ tropical  _ storm, and his tiny yacht wasn't equipped to deal with something like that. He was too busy panicking to even attempt to call the Coast Guard. Or anyone else. 

The boat was tossed across the ocean like so much trash, and Tony along with it. Eventually, he was thrown into the side of the bolted-down table, and he hit his head. He didn't have any spare room in his brain for actual thoughts aside from sheer panic at the idea of drowning, but if he had, he'd have thought -  _ at least I can't panic or know I'm drowning if I'm knocked out _ . 

When he woke, he was first surprised to find he was alive at all. Then, he realized his yacht was destroyed. There was a piece of the hull on the beach beside him.  _ Mari _ glared up at him, a jagged line cutting off the  _ a _ . He had no idea how he'd survived, but he supposed he shouldn't be terribly surprised. He survived taking a bomb to the chest and open-heart surgery in a goddamn cave, after all. A shipwreck was pretty low on the scale compared to that, right? 


	2. R5: Desert Island

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 501 words

The island he’d landed on was tiny. It only took him about five minutes to walk around the entire thing. There were no plants or trees or anything. And really? What was with that? He thought desert islands were supposed to come with at least a coconut tree or some shit. Come  _ on _ . 

He didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't have his phone to get JARVIS to get him a search party, he didn't have a pot to boil any water so he could have something to drink, and though he could have probably used the wood from the chunk of the  _ Maria  _ that had washed up on shore with him, he didn't have a way to  _ start _ a fire. No lighter, no kindling, no flint - nothing. He was not a survivalist, but even if he was, there wasn't anything on this stupid island to help him out other than a stupid chunk of wood. 

He sat at the top of the island and tried to look out beyond the water, but he couldn't see anything at all other than glittering blue ocean. He was stuck on some stupid desert island in the middle of the fucking Pacific, he had no idea where he was, and he had no clues on how to begin to get himself out of this situation. At least in Afghanistan he'd had plenty of tech to cannibalize to suit his needs. Here there was nothing. He hadn't even worn his watch while on the boat because he didn't want to ruin it. 

Maybe JARVIS had sent an emergency signal during the storm? That was a distinct probability. If he had, it probably wouldn't take a terribly long time before someone showed up to get him out of here, right? 

But maybe he hadn't. JARVIS had reported some connection issues during the last storm. JARVIS had to use a satellite uplink to work out here, and those were notorious for fritzing during bad weather. So maybe JARVIS hadn’t been able to get a call out, and maybe Tony was stuck here. Maybe no one was coming. How the fuck was he supposed to get himself out of this shit? Even if he  _ was _ sort of like a real-life MacGyver, he didn’t have anything to  _ use _ .

Tony rested his head in his hands. He was well and truly fucked this time, wasn't he? He still didn't know how the fuck he'd even gotten here. He didn't have a scratch on him from what he could tell. Hell, his head didn't even hurt, and he was pretty sure something had happened that meant it should. He didn't know what that was, but he trusted that instinct. 

Stupid desert island. Stupid yacht. Stupid vacation. Stupid Pepper. Stupid Rhodey. Stupid storm. Stupid phone that didn’t work when he needed it to. Stupid salt water he couldn’t drink. Stupid sand. Stupid lack of trees. Stupid everything.

He was never, ever taking another vacation ever again in his  _ life _ . 


	3. K3: Merpeople

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5072 words - longest chapter
> 
> (also, meet bucky)

Sitting around whining about his situation wasn’t going to do him a lick of fucking good, and Tony knew that, so he got up off his ass and walked down to the edge of the water. The water was just as crystal clear here as it was back on the beach in Malibu, which was good. He figured maybe some other stuff from the yacht had drifted close to the island, so he could probably swim out a little ways and find something useful. 

But he wasn't going to swim in jeans. He'd put them on late yesterday because it had gotten a little chilly. He regretted that now, but there wasn't much to be done for it except to take them off. Not like anyone was around to see him in his underwear anyway, and it wasn't like there weren't hundreds of pictures of him in less on the internet. The arc reactor embedded in his chest and the scars surrounding it still bothered him, but again - there wasn't anyone around to see. He stripped out of his shirt and his jeans, left both on the chunk of wood so they'd be nice and dry when he decided to put them back on, and then stepped out into the water.

There wasn't much to see other than seashells at first. Tony kept close to the island as he rounded it a couple times, keeping his eyes on the sand under the gentle waves. The further out he went, though, the more he started spying little bits and ends. Broken things, mostly, like the handle from one of his coffee mugs and the very top of a glass bottle he was sure had come off his bottle of Macallan 25. But he didn't really find anything  _ useful _ . He was starting to get a little more frustrated and a little more desperate as he got to waist-deep. 

He came across a completely in-tact coffee mug and scooped it up with a little smile. It wasn't much, but if he could figure out a way to get a fire started, it would hold a least a little bit of water so he could boil it. It wouldn't be much at the time, especially not catching all the evaporated water in his shirt and then trying to empty it back into the same mug once he'd rinsed it out, but it would have to do, wouldn't it? 

He kept the mug in his hand and kept searching rather than going back to the beach and trying to come back to this exact spot. He found a broken piece of a fishing rod that had neither reel nor hook, but he kept it anyway, just in case he could do something with it later. He also found a starfish, but that didn't do him much good, so he left it where it was and kept looking. 

After another twenty minutes of searching, he slogged his way back up to the beach and dropped the mug and the broken piece of fishing rod by the chunk of boat. He sat on the sand to dry out a bit and just relax. He didn't have a way to drink any water, still, so he had to keep things fairly simple and easy for now. He didn't want to exert himself too much because he'd only get dehydrated even faster. 

He'd been sitting for about ten minutes, but he wasn't really sure - it was hard to judge how much time was passing when he was just sitting there with nothing to occupy himself but his thoughts - when he heard a splash. He didn't see anything around him, but he stood up and walked straight across the tiny island to see if it had come from over there. He didn't see anything in the water, but as he walked closer to the shoreline, he spotted something in the sand. 

One of his pots from the yacht. 

He knelt slowly, more than a little in shock, and grasped the handle. It was the good one, the cast iron one. He  _ knew  _ it wasn't there before. So where had it come from? He looked out at the water again, but he didn't see anything at all. He may be a paranoid bastard these days, but he wasn't going to look a gift-fish in the mouth. He dragged the pot the rest of the way out of the sand and carried it back to the piece of boat he’d sort of designated as his ‘base.’ He rinsed the sand out and filled it with water, but he left it by the boat for now. What else could he do? He didn't have a way to start a fire…

“Don't suppose you could find me a lighter or something down there?” Tony asked out loud. He didn't feel foolish for speaking aloud to apparent nothingness - he did that all the time at home. But he did feel strange asking  _ something  _ to help him when he didn't know what that something was. 

The next thing Tony knew, something came flying out of the water aimed straight at him. He yelped and ducked to the side, then jerked his head down to look at the sand. Sure enough, the grill lighter from the yacht was stuck half-out of the sand. 

“Thanks,” Tony said, his voice quiet and a little wary. He bent and grabbed the lighter and sat it on the boat by his clothes. It would have to dry before he could use it, but he didn't think that would take very long. 

Tony walked into the water. He didn't know what the fuck he was doing, honestly. His heart was going to beat right out of his chest and end up beside the arc reactor at this point, but so be it. 

“Who are you?” Tony asked. He felt foolish  _ now _ , talking to nothing when he knew something was out there. “Why are you helping me?” 

There was a dark shadow in the water, but it was still too far out for Tony to see it clearly. The water made it difficult to judge distances accurately, but dammit, whatever kind of  _ creature  _ this was had to be impossibly strong to throw something - even as light as a lighter - as far as the island. Tony was chest-deep already, and the shadow was much farther away. 

Tony's no-sink sunglasses floated across the water toward him. He gaped at them for a moment before taking them in his hands. Woven between the arms was some kind of… jewelry? He didn't know what to call it, not really, but it was sort of pretty, even if it was made up of shells and some kind of gem he didn't recognize. And - was that a  _ Spanish doubloon _ ? Really? He carefully unwound it from his sunglasses and wound it around his wrist. He didn't want to lose it, whatever it was. He felt a lot better with his sunglasses on his face, though. The world was tinted yellow, but the sun wasn't blinding him anymore. 

“Thank you,” Tony said. He raised his wrist. “This is… really nice.” The gems glittered in the sunlight. His chest gave a painful twinge, and that was - that was concerning. But he didn't have time to be concerned over that right now. There wasn't much he could do for the arc reactor, anyway. “I'm going to go back to the shore, but…” Tony tipped his head to the side. Had the shadow come closer? “If you’d like to join me, I wouldn't be opposed. In fact, I'd like that. I could thank you again, for helping me.” He stayed for a moment more, then he turned and walked slowly back to the beach. 

He didn't get far. He was a little more than waist deep when he felt something curl around his wrist. It felt really weird, sort of pinchy? But it didn't hurt, either. He carefully didn't jerk away or try to turn and face whatever it was. He just stopped. Waited. He didn't think whatever it was meant to hurt him, not since it had found a pot for him, given him a lighter, and returned his sunglasses. 

When he looked down at his wrist, he found a dark gray tentacle, just the barest edge of it, curled there, above the bracelet. The tentacle brushed over the gold coin delicately. Tony smiled, slightly, and yeah, he figured this thing had made that. Well, if it wanted it back, it had to ask. He'd return it, sure, but he'd be sad to see it go. The fishing line it was made from had been painstakingly and intricately braided around and through the shells, gems, and coin. 

“It ain't a bracelet.” The low voice surprised Tony. He hadn't expected that. 

“Wasn't like you sent it with instructions,” Tony quipped. The little tentacle was joined by a hand, and it carefully looped the piece of jewelry off Tony's wrist. Tony frowned. He didn't want it gone. The twinge in his chest eased off when it left his skin, but he didn't pay much attention to that until the necklace was looped carefully around his neck and then gently tightened - still with one hand and a tentacle. Tony sucked in a sharp breath at the jolt that hit his chest. His hand settled just above the arc reactor and massaged the still-tender skin around it. 

“There isn't a magnet anywhere on this thing, is there?” Tony asked, a little more breathless than he expected to be. 

“No?” The question came as the creature - no,  _ man _ , well, at least in part - came around to Tony's side to look at him. One thicker, stronger tentacle wrapped around Tony's waist. “What's wrong?” The man-squid-thing, Tony didn't know what to call him, looked from Tony's face to the arc reactor and back to Tony's face. 

“This,” Tony said, grimacing. He tapped the glass covering and listened to the little ping. “It's an arc reactor. It keeps me alive.”

“Is it magic?” the man asked, his eyebrows furrowing. His hand - his only hand, Tony noted distantly - came up, but he didn't touch the arc reactor, he touched the necklace. “The magic in the necklace shouldn't bother it.” 

Tony took a deeper breath as some of the pain eased off. “Whatever it was, it's going away,” Tony said breezily. He plastered on a charming smile. “So you're the one who threw the lighter at my head?” He laughed at the man's contrite expression. “I'm grateful, don't worry.” 

“Yeah?” the man asked shyly, the tentacle around Tony's waist squeezing a little tighter, the suckers biting into Tony's skin. A different tentacle rubbed along Tony's wrist, while yet another one skimmed along his calf. And wow, that was - that was a lot of arms. He could barely keep track. 

“Yep,” Tony said, his grin turning a little impish. “So. This whole, ah, thing. This is new for me. Let's start easy, at least. What's your name?”

“Bucky,” the man said, yet another little tentacle curling around Tony's ankle this time. “What's yours?”

“Tony,” he said. “Tony Stark.” He gestured back toward the tiny island. “Seem to find myself shipwrecked at the moment, but, well, you know. I'm usually better equipped.” 

“I know,” Bucky said, nodding a little, his sea-storm gray eyes tracking out across the water. “I hadn't seen a boat around here in a long time. Came up, yesterday, to see up close. Then the storm happened, and I found you in the water. Got you to the shore.” 

“Thank you,” Tony said quietly. “That - thank you.” He hadn't thanked Yinsen well, either. Words never felt very adequate when he was trying to thank someone for saving his life - worthless as it seemed, to him, sometimes. “I owe you. A lot.” 

“There aren't any mers, or people, out here in this part of the ocean,” Bucky said, and he sounded a bit sad about that. “I - I guess I got a bit lonely. Didn't mean to drag you into all this.”

Tony snorted. “Oh, you didn't, I promise you that. You just saved my life. Which I can't ever repay, you know, so consider me forever in your debt.” Tony made a face. “Wow. Not a phrase I ever expected to say.” He looked up at Bucky - who was a few inches taller - higher? How did he judge height on someone who didn't have legs?. “What do people - ah, what does  _ someone  _ like you want, anyway?” 

“Company, mostly,” Bucky answered, getting a bit shy again. “Fish don't exactly have the most stimulatin’ conversations.” 

“I imagine not,” Tony laughed. “Well, I can do conversation. Most people have a hard time getting me to shut up.” He said it arrogantly, like he was proud of it. It was always easier to hide the sting of such a criticism that way. 

Bucky slid the one tentacle on his calf up higher to his thigh, and then still higher, to where just the very end of it was wiggling beneath the hem of his boxers. “Don't seem real hard to make you stop talkin’, not to me,” Bucky said, a devilish little smile on his face. The tentacle retreated back down his thigh and tickled lightly along the back of Tony's knee before settling where it had been before around his calf. “But I really do want someone to talk to. Been ages since the last time I had the chance for it.”

“Well, I'm sure we'll have the time for whatever you're game for,” Tony said, just a bit dryly. Bucky gave him a slightly strange look for that, but Tony ignored it. “I'm sure it's nifty, not needing fresh water all the time, but unfortunately, I do.” Tony gestured back toward the shore. “How, um, how close can you get, do you think?”

“I can go on land,” Bucky said with a light shrug - using the shoulder that was missing an arm. Tony wasn't going to ask, he wasn't, but he was definitely curious. Bucky didn't seem to have too many troubles with the missing arm, though, not with so many others he could use freely. “I can't stay long, ‘bout an hour, really, but it don't hurt or anything.” 

“That is - huh,” Tony said, his brain already working a hundred miles an hour. “That's fascinating. I'd love to show you Malibu sometime. Seriously.” He grinned widely and gently tugged away from Bucky, and the tentacle around his waist, calf, and ankle all slipped away. The one around his wrist held. “I need to try to get a fire started, though. Boiling sea water in a cast iron pot is going to take some time, and I don't exactly have a lot of wood to burn.” 

“Your boat is at the bottom, but it ain't far,” Bucky said, waving one tentacle over the water behind himself. He nodded toward the chunk of the ship on the shore. “The pieces are smaller than that one; least ways, most of them are. I'll get them for you.”

“You - you will?” Tony asked, surprise coloring his tone and probably his expression, too. “But you don't have to.” 

Bucky snorted. “Doll, ain't much in these waters that can make me do what I don't wanna do.” He leaned closer to Tony, almost like he was going to kiss him. “Get to shore. Won't take long.”

“Thank you,” Tony said softly. He was touched, honestly. He was accustomed to people only ever doing anything for him because they could get something in return, usually money or fame or power or something like that. Bucky only wanted a conversation. Or, at least, that was all he'd asked for. Tony doubted Bucky could do anything with  _ money _ , not out here. Sex was… a possibility, strange as that thought was, but Tony wasn't really entertaining the idea, not right now. 

Bucky let the one tentacle around Tony's wrist trail up to his bicep tenderly, almost like a lover, and then he was gone. Tony blinked in surprise. Holy  _ fuck _ , he was fast. He couldn't even see Bucky's dark shape under the water anymore. He frowned a little and hoped Bucky really would return, then he made his way to the shore. 

Once there, Tony tested the lighter first. It worked, which was good. He then began prying some of the boards loose from the chunk of wood. Whatever wood Bucky brought for him would be waterlogged and would need to dry, so he'd have to use this for now. He still didn't have any kindling, but whatever the boards were oiled with caught fire easily enough, and soon, Tony had a small but hot fire burning under his pot of water. He rigged up a little tri-stand for his shirt over the pot to catch all the steam without burning the shirt in the process. 

He wasn't sure how long that had taken, but Bucky hadn't returned yet. Tony sat a short distance from the fire, watching the water. It was hot out, but the sun was beginning to set, now. He wondered if it would get cold and hoped it wouldn't. All he had were his jeans. 

But then Bucky returned, his many arms full of wood - and other things. Tony jogged into the water to take some of the burden from him. He dumped the first pile of wood beside the remainder of the boat, then he turned to go back to Bucky, but Bucky was already behind him, swimming there in shallows with his two free tentacles spread to keep him anchored in place. Tony smiled a little and took another pile of wood to add, then another. 

Bucky held up a familiar black duffle bag. “Found this with the boat. Stuffed a blanket in there. Figured it was all wet right now, but it’ll dry, and it gets cold after dark.” 

“Thank you,” Tony said softly, taking the bag from him. It was heavy with wet clothes and the blanket. “I still had some clothes in here, too.” 

“Left that in there,” Bucky said. “Ain't been around humans in a while, but I remember them.” He looked Tony up and down, almost appreciative, almost lewd. “They wore a lot more clothes than you, doll.” 

Tony laughed and shook his head as he unzipped the bag and began stretching the blanket out over the dry wood and the clothes over the sand. He wasn't keen on wearing clothes full of sand, but he'd rather keep the blanket sand-free for now. He heard some splashing behind him, but he focused on his task and began to do the one thing Bucky had asked of him - talk.

“Not sure how long, exactly, it's been for you, but even though I'm in my underwear, this isn't the worst state I've been seen in, I can promise you that.” He cheered softly when he found his spare pair of swim trunks. “I'm pretty sure there are still people out there who whack it to my old sex tapes, and I haven't had one of those leaked in at least ten years.” He snorted and dug around in the bag, wondering if he'd left anything else in there. He didn't often use it, but it was handy sometimes. He wasn't even surprised to find lube and condoms in the side pocket, though he just tossed them into the sand by the wood for now. Not like they'd do much good. 

“Oh, nice,” Tony said, holding up an old multitool. He'd had this one for years and years. He’d bought it for himself once during a stay in the Rockies. The snowmobile he'd rented for himself and his date at the time had broken down, and this was the only thing he could get his hands on to try and fix it. It had worked like a charm, and he never traveled without it anymore. He turned and looked at Bucky, who was now sprawled on the sand, his one human arm propped behind him to keep him upright and his tentacles spread wide. He was much,  _ much  _ bigger than Tony thought he was. 

“Did you find this?” Tony asked. “I could have sworn it wasn't in the bag.”

Bucky nodded. “I found lots of things,” he said easily.

“I wasn't sure what you wanted. That thing in your chest - the arc reactor. You said it was hurting. Do you have things to fix it? I could find them.”

“No,” Tony said, looking down at the multitool in his hand and shaking his head. “I didn't bring anything like that. Had a few spare parts for the yacht, but that was it. Nothing small enough and delicate enough for this.” He tapped gently at the arc reactor. 

“I've seen something like that before,” Bucky said. Tony snapped his head up, his eyes narrowed, but Bucky had a faraway look on his face, and he was looking out at the water. “It was in the north, in the cold waters. The same color, but square. Glowed like that.” He blinked and turned to look at Tony again. “Do you think it would help? The fish refused to go near it, and the mer up there wouldn't touch it because of that. Superstitious bunch.” 

“That - that's a very long way from here,” Tony said slowly. He shook his head. “It doesn't hurt right now, so it should be okay, I think.” 

“Tell me if that changes,” Bucky said, serious and almost demanding. “It would take a few days to get there and back, swimming the whole time, but I'm fast.”

“I saw that,” Tony said. He was grasping at straws to change the conversation. He didn't want to talk about the arc reactor, and for whatever reason, he really didn't want Bucky to leave. “I wish I could ask how fast you were on a scale I could understand.” He smiled a bit. “I drove a race car a few months ago in a Grand Prix. It was my car, but I had a professional who actually drove it in all the races. I was dying at the time, though, so I figured why not? He was furious.” 

Tony laughed as he finished emptying the bag - spare toothbrush, a razor, and a little travel bottle of soap all went into the sand by the lube. He laid the bag as flat as he could as well, then checked the dampness of the shirt over the pot. It was damp enough to wring out, so he did that over the mug as he finished his little story.

“I pushed the car to about 220. I lost, of course, but not too bad, and it was fun.”

“You were dying?” Bucky asked quietly, a troubled look on his face.

“Not anymore,” Tony said. He squeezed every drop he could from his shirt, then put it back over the pot. “This is the third version of my arc reactor. The first I built in a cave out of scrapped bombs. The second was much better, but the core was made of the same element, and it was poisoning me. I had to make a new element for this one.” He tapped the reactor and then dropped into the sand beside Bucky. He didn't even mind when one of the tentacles wrapped around his wrist almost immediately. “Hadn't had a single problem until earlier.”

“I'm sorry,” Bucky said, anguished. “I didn't know the magic would react with it.” 

Tony waved that away. “Honestly? Until I saw you, I didn't think magic was real. I'm sort of reworking my worldview a little bit, now, but there wasn't any way I could have prepared for that.”

Bucky tipped his head to the side. “Humans have always known mer exist.”

“Uh, no,” Tony said. “There are old legends and some silly cartoons, one super depressing folktale I can remember, but no. Humans definitely don't believe people like you exist at all.” He trailed his eyes over Bucky. He was part octopus, that much was clear, but he wasn't anything like Ursula. He was broad and muscular, for one. His human skin had a sort of grayish cast to it, but it wasn't as dark gray as the octopus part of him. The change from human to octopus was seamless and perfect. Tony wasn't into biology, but damn if he didn't want to know what Bucky's insides looked like. How did he  _ work _ ?

“But I've spoken with humans before,” Bucky said with a frown. He sat up a little and brought his human hand up to cover his missing arm. There wasn't even a stump where his arm should have been. It was like it had been surgically removed. “Before - before my arm got bit off, I had a tattoo. A red star.” 

“You had a tattoo?” Tony asked, eyebrows raising. “How? And  _ who _ ? I mean - that's blowing my mind right now. What kind of tattoo artist gets to put ink on someone like you and doesn't take a picture to commemorate the occasion?”

Bucky gave Tony a thin smile. “I think they tried, but it was blurry, or something. Never developed. A - a polaroid. That's what they called it. They were small, and black and white. I couldn't take any with me because the water ruined them.” Bucky had the faraway look again, and Tony figured he was remembering the occasion.

“Do you happen to remember what year that was?” Tony asked, softening his tone just a bit. 

“1948,” Bucky said, then looked at Tony with a smile. “It was summer, then, too.” He shook his head a little. “The man who gave me the tattoo was nice. I traded some other coins, ones different from that one,” he pointed to the one on the necklace on Tony's neck, “and silver.” 

“Huh,” Tony said softly. Then he grinned. “Well, you certainly don't look over sixty-three.” 

Bucky wrinkled his nose. “I'm older’n that. I think your year was 1917.” 

“You’re ninety-four?” Tony asked, incredulous. 

“It's 2011?” Bucky asked curiously. “Didn’ know so much time had passed. It's different, in the dark parts.”

“Is the age a mer thing or a magic thing?” Tony asked, waving his hand at Bucky. “Because I'm pretty sure octopods only live about three to five years.” He isn't certain. That isn't his field, after all. He'd had a bit of a kick with going to the aquarium and the zoo for a while, though, which was how Rhodey became ‘platypus.’ 

“Both?” Bucky asked, his nose scrunched up again. “I dunno, Tony, it ain't like I've had a whole lotta mers to ask. Ain't never come across another mer like me, and most of the others don't much like me.”

Tony frowned. “Why not? You're all… similar, right?”

“No,” Bucky said, shaking his head. “Not really.” 

“Weird,” Tony hummed. “I'm sorry, though, for what little that's worth. It's probably a good thing you haven't wandered up to San Francisco or something, though. Last thing you need is for someone to spot you and try to stick you in an aquarium or something.”

“Heard stories about those,” Bucky said with a nod. “Avoided humans for a while, after a dolphin filled me in on some folks that got her. They helped her, sure, but they weren't none too gentle about it. Scared her half to damn death, and kept her locked up for a long time after.”

“We really don't know as much about sea life as we think we do,” Tony said a humorless smile on his face. “I can promise I won't try to stick you in an aquarium or poke you with sharp objects.” Tony held up his hands and tried his best to look innocent. 

Bucky smothered a laugh with his hand, stray bits of sand clinging to his jaw. “You look guilty as hell.” 

“Damn,” Tony sighed. “Guess that blows my career in acting out of the water.” He snorted, and Bucky laughed. The sound was warm and carefree, and it make Tony feel strangely at peace to hear it, similar to the way he'd felt getting into the ocean that first time.

“You can eat fish, right?” Bucky asked, apropos of nothing. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Of course. There are some that I can't eat, but most are fine. Why?”

“I can hear your stomach growlin’,” Bucky said with a grin. “And I'm hungry, anyway. I'll get us some, and you can cook it, right? I haven't had anythin’ cooked in a long time.” 

“If you're bringing it, hell yeah I'll cook it,” Tony said quickly. He looked over at his pot. “Might have to wait until I've had some water to drink first.” 

“There were these plastic bottles, down at the bottom,” Bucky said. “I didn't know if they'd be any good, after bein’ down there.” 

“If they're still closed, then yeah, they should be fine,” Tony said. “That - that would be seriously helpful.” He was more thirsty than hungry, really. He'd gone longer without eating on some of his engineering binges. “Are you sure you don't mind doing this? I mean - I'm more grateful than I know how to say, but… I don't know how to return the favor.”

Bucky squeezed the tentacle he had wrapped around Tony's wrist the entire time. Tony had almost forgotten it was there. “I'm sure.” He smiled, then shifted across the sand, which was weird to watch, until he got to the water. Almost the very moment he reached it, it became easier for him to move. He twisted once most of his body, while still horizontal, was submerged, and faced Tony. “I'll get the bottles first and bring those up.”

“Thank you,” Tony said earnestly. “If you like, and if you can find it, there should be a good bit of packaged food down there. Some of it might still be good. You could try something other than fish.” He smiled, a little, but Bucky full on grinned. 

“I'll look.” And then he was gone. Vanished, like smoke. Tony could track a little of his movement, but not much. Bucky was crazy fast. Faster than anything Tony had seen move before. He shook his head a little and went back to his pot of water and the tee shirt. He wasn't going to stop with that, not until he was sure he had plenty of water. He couldn't risk it.


	4. S5: Carnival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2568 words

By the time night fell, Tony had a proper stockpile of supplies. Bucky had brought him three entire cases of water of the six Tony had originally had on the yacht, a lot of the non-perishable stuff Tony had stocked to keep himself fed so he wouldn't have to dock anywhere anytime soon, and even several bottles of liquor. Bucky had found a bag that Tony didn't know was even on his yacht - which probably meant someone had left it there at some point, which really narrowed down whose it could have been, but that didn't matter - and he'd brought all the surviving bottles he could find of Tony's, admittedly impressive, alcohol supply. There was one bottle in the mix that Tony knew he didn't own, and he wasn't going to drink that, but Bucky had said he would try it if Tony wouldn't.

While Tony cooked and they ate, he talked almost non stop. He told Bucky about the modern world as it currently was, filling him in on every detail he could think of and answering every question Bucky had. Bucky didn't say much about himself or his life, but Tony didn't fault him for that. If Bucky tried asking any questions Tony didn't really want to answer, he skated over the topic and quickly changed the subject. 

After dinner, Tony opened a bottle of rum and took a long drink before offering it to Bucky. Bucky, it turned out, could drink like a champ. Tony was impressed. He'd lamented not having any cards or anything to  _ do  _ while they were drinking, and Bucky had asked about something called a carnival that he'd heard someone mention, once, so Tony had tried his best to explain.

“They have games and rides and shows, usually,” Tony said. “The games are silly, and they're rigged to make people spend a lot of money trying to win cheap prizes, but they're sort of fun, too. Like tossing a ring over bottles or trying to knock bottles over with a ball or throw a dart at some balloons.” 

“Why would you want to do those things?” Bucky asked. They were right at the water's edge so Bucky could stay half in the water and Tony could stay dry on shore. He'd had to put on his jeans and a shirt that had, thankfully, dried in the hot afternoon, but it wasn't too cold to need much more than that. 

“To win the prizes,” Tony explained. “They're, like, stuffed animals, usually. Most of the time, guys try to win them for their dates. It's cliche and stupid, but nearly everyone's done it.” Tony shrugged. He never had, but that wasn't worth mentioning. The first time he'd ever been to a carnival had been with Rhodey, back when he was at MIT. He was just fifteen and no one had really wanted much to do with him. 

“I want to try,” Bucky said, a strange look of determination crossing his features. He looked at Tony. “You can do that, right? You're smart. You build things.”

Tony laughed. “You want me to build carnival games?” Bucky nodded, smiling. “All right, Buckaroo, if you want carnival games, I'll build you some carnival games.”

Tony stood and dusted the sand off as well as he could. He gathered some bottles first and sat them on an even stack of wood he'd been using as a makeshift table. He spaced the bottles evenly, but just a little too close together, just like a real carnival game, and then got busy trying to make a ring out of the broken piece of fishing rod. He sacrificed one of his shirts and cut it into strips to use to tie the ends of the pole together tightly. 

“What's your prize going to be?” Tony asked as he worked on the ring. He grinned at Bucky from where he sat in the sand. “I don't have any stuffed animals to give away, sorry.” 

“What are the rules for the game?” Bucky asked in return. Sometimes, Bucky surprised Tony with questions like that. Tony hadn't realized just how clever he was. 

“Well, usually you have to get three rings over the bottles. We only have one ring, so I guess you'll have to do it three times.” Tony shrugged. “The games always had bigger prizes, too. More reward for more risk. Get three rings, get the little prize. Get five rings, get the medium prize, get ten rings, get the biggest prize. But if you tried for five but failed, you didn't get the little prize, and if you tried for ten but failed, you didn't get either prize.” 

Bucky hummed softly. “Can I tell you what I want after I get all ten?” 

Tony grinned his shark-like grin, the one the press loved to harass him about. “Feeling bold?” Bucky only smirked in return. “All right, Bucky-bear. Sure.”

“I'll win,” Bucky said confidently. “But I want three tries first to figure out how it works.” 

“Fair deal,” Tony said with a shrug. He stood and crossed the little bit of beach to hand the ring to Bucky. “Since you've never played before, and all.” He looked over at the set up. “Do you want to move closer? Usually, you're pretty close when you do this.” He felt a little guilty that he'd set it up so far from the water. He should have moved it to the edge so Bucky would have a fairer chance. 

“No,” Bucky said. “I aim better from a distance.” He smirked at Tony and then immediately tossed the ring in the air. It chinked against the bottles, and his eyes narrowed when it clattered off to the side and hit the wood. “They're too close together.”

“That's the game,” Tony said, just tad smug. “I told you it was rigged.” He went and grabbed the ring and returned it to Bucky. “Still sure you want to go for all ten?” Being a fake carnie was sort of like being a businessman. All conniving and dealing and trying to get the most money out of someone for the least amount of sacrifice. He… wasn't really sure he liked it. 

“Yes,” Bucky said mulishly. He threw the ring again, and it bounced around the bottles on the inside before falling in between them. Tony walked over to retrieve it and subtly shifted just one bottle a little further out. 

Tony gave the ring to Bucky again. “Maybe you should only try for three next and go ahead and tell me what you want. Less risk. What do you say?” 

“No way, doll,” Bucky drawled, all smooth arrogance. He let the ring fly once again, and this time, it slid right into place around one of the bottles. He gave Tony a smug smile. “I can do all ten.”

“If you say so,” Tony sang. He walked back to get the ring and gave it to Bucky, then took a drink from the bottle of rum buried in the sand. They'd been sharing it, and Bucky had been drinking far more than Tony, and it was already half gone. 

The actual game, and not Bucky's practice, had begun. Tony kept up his heckling, though Bucky made the first three tosses look effortless. The fourth and fifth were a little chancy, singing around the glass bottles for a moment before finally falling around them. Tony upped his teasing after the fifth, but Bucky didn't budge on his goal. 

At the ninth, Tony cheered. “Hot damn! I've never seen anyone so good at this.” He grinned widely at Bucky. “How are you this good? Is it your magic? Are you cheating?” He stuck out his tongue to show he was teasing. 

“Ain't gotta cheat when I have skill,” Bucky teased right back. Tony tossed his head back and laughed. He was just a little drunk, less on the rum, he thought, and more on the good time he was having. How odd that he could have such fun with such a simple, stupid game from a carnival. 

The tenth ring fell perfectly around the bottle Tony had nudged back just a hair. He clapped for Bucky and flopped down in the sand right at the water's edge, his feet in the gently lapping waves. Bucky grinned triumphantly and several of his tentacles curled around Tony. One went around his waist, one around his thigh, one on his wrist - as always, when they were close enough to touch - and ond around his ankle. 

“So,” Tony said, tipping his head up just a little, “what's your prize?” He smirked a little. He had a fair idea of what he thought Bucky's prize might be. 

Bucky flushed, his skin turning almost purple rather than pink. “Well, you ain't gotta give it,” Bucky said slowly, “but I can tell you what I want?” He phrased it as a question, and Tony was pretty sure this was not only the nicest person he'd ever met, but also the sweetest. And certainly the most unique.

“Go right ahead,” Tony said. He kept his tone gentle rather than teasing this time. “Pretty sure I'd give you anything you asked for.” 

That was the wrong thing to say, apparently. Most of Bucky's tentacles recoiled from him. The ones around his wrist and ankle remained, but those were the only two. Bucky frowned at him, and Tony frowned back. 

“What?” Tony asked. “What's wrong?”

“Tony, you ain't gotta do nothin’ for me,” Bucky said, adamant and yet soft. “You don't owe me nothin’, especially nothin’ you don't wanna do. You - you know that, right?”

Tony smiled. “What was it you said earlier? There wasn't much in these waters that could make you do what you didn't want to do?” Bucky nodded, but it was a little hesitant, a little uncertain. “There isn't much of anyone, anywhere that can make me do something I don't want to do, okay?” Tony smiled again and tapped at his arc reactor. “I didn't explain how I got this. It isn't a fun story, but you'll understand.

“I made weapons. A lot of them. Big ones. I was the best, and that isn't arrogance, it's fact. I was in Afghanistan demoing a new bomb I'd made when the convoy I was in was attacked. A bomb went off and hit me in the chest. I was captured by a group of people called the Ten Rings. They wanted me to make weapons for them. They forced a doctor to save my life. He did surgery and put an electromagnet in my chest to keep the shards of the bomb from entering my heart and killing me. Instead of building their bomb, I built the first version of this. That's how it keeps me alive. 

“Before that, I had a car battery hooked up to my chest. I know you don't understand what that is, but - they forced my head underwater and held me there until I was drowning. Then they'd drag me out and let me get a breath and do it again. Every time, that battery would shock me, and that was almost worse. 

“After I built the arc reactor, I refused to make anything else. They tortured and killed the doctor who saved my life in front of me. They tortured me, too.” One of Bucky's tentacles curled around Tony's waist again and he felt it sneak under his shirt and rub along his back where he knew there were more scars. He was just grateful he didn't have to look at those. “I made myself a weapon and broke out. I killed a lot of them with it, and I blew up a lot of the weapons they had.”

Tony tugged his shirt off and tossed it on the sand. He reached up with shaking hands and twisted the arc reactor. “Obie, my godfather, a man I'd known almost my whole life, a man I trusted, was the one who tried to have me killed. When those guys realized who I was, they didn't kill me like they were supposed to. After I got back, Obie - he tried to kill me instead.” Tony clicked the arc reactor out of his chest and held it in his hand. “He took this. This version has a limited backup supply of power that will let me survive for up to thirty minutes without the arc reactor in my chest. I didn't have that back then. He took it, and I started dying.” He took Bucky's hand and put the arc reactor in his palm. “I survived, and I got my arc reactor back. Obie - Stane. He's in prison now.”

Bucky looked at Tony sadly, but also with wonder. He carefully put the arc reactor back into Tony's chest and twisted it slowly until it clicked. He rested his palm over the arc reactor. “I never wanna try and take anything you don't freely give,” Bucky whispered. “I ain't that kind of monster.”

“So far as I can tell, you aren't any kind of monster,” Tony said softly. He smiled sadly. “I've met monsters, Bucky, and they look exactly like me.” 

“You ain't a monster, either,” Bucky said, a touch fierce. All his tentacles seemed to latch on to Tony at once. He swallowed hard. “My prize. Can I have a kiss?” 

Tony smiled. “Thought you'd never ask.” He lifted his hands to Bucky's face, ignored his surprised expression, and drew him in. 

Bucky tasted like salt and something a little fishy, but it wasn't terrible. Tony licked into his mouth and was a little surprised by the sharp teeth, so he took care to avoid those, licking along the roof of Bucky's mouth instead. Bucky's arm wrapped around Tony's back and pulled him almost flush to Bucky's chest as Bucky shuddered and moaned. Bucky nipped at Tony's lip and sucked on it lightly. Tony shivered when Bucky licked into his mouth and sucked on his tongue. The tentacles squeezed and released over and over all over his body, and the suckers felt like more tiny kisses wherever they met flesh. 

Tony finally pulled away from Bucky and grinned. “Was that enough for a prize?” 

“Yeah,” Bucky said, smiling, though there was a hint of sadness to it as well. “Best damn kiss of my life.” 

Tony laughed softly. “Good,” he murmured. “Then this next one can be freely given.” He sealed his mouth to Bucky's once more, and he dragged his hands over Bucky's broad, muscular shoulders, down his back as it flexed subtly with each shift of his tentacles, then around his sides and across his chest, down to the soft, oddly textured skin of his octopus half. He dragged the tips of his fingers across the bigger suckers on one of Bucky's tentacles, and Bucky shook and groaned as he began to kiss down the side of Tony's throat. 

It never got much further than touching and kissing, though Tony almost wanted it to. He wanted to know what that rough, big hand might feel like around his cock. Or one of those little tentacles. But he didn't ask, and Bucky didn't offer. Bucky finally withdrew from Tony and let the last little tentacle around Tony's wrist squeeze once more.

“Sleep, Tony,” Bucky said. “I'll see you in the morning.” Tony could only nod and watch as Bucky vanished into the water. 


	5. A1: Arc Reactor Angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2597 words

When Tony woke up the next morning, his first thought was that he was hungover. But it only took about ten seconds for him to realize that wasn't the problem at all. His head didn't hurt, he didn't feel like he needed to puke, and the world wasn't still spinning. He hadn't had that much to drink the night before, anyway. His chest, on the other hand, felt like someone was trying to rip out the arc reactor casing. 

He sat up slowly and tried to massage the skin around the arc reactor, but it was too tender to touch. He cursed his situation - more than he had yesterday. He had no idea what the fuck was happening with his arc reactor, and he had no way to find out, either. What was he supposed to do? He didn't know how to fix this. Technology was his specialty, not people, and he was still very much human. 

The severe pain left him unable to move his arms much, like back when Yinsen had first shoved the electromagnet in his chest. He huddled on the ground for most of the morning, unable even to stand to go take a piss or grab more water. He was slowly but surely panicking more and more. 

What the hell was happening to his arc reactor?

Tony had no explanations, not even any real  _ theories _ . Bucky had said something about magic, but Tony wasn't even sure he actually believed in any of that. Why would he? Apart from Bucky's frankly astounding physiology, Tony had seen no proof of magic. The necklace probably didn't have anything to do with the pain, but Tony had experimented anyway, taking it off for a long while. That hadn't helped any, and Tony was probably insane for thinking it, but he thought the pain might have actually gotten  _ worse _ during that time. He'd put the necklace back on, anyway, unwilling to lose it in the sand. 

It was close to midday - or, at least, the sun was very high in the sky - by the time the pain finally eased off. The whys and hows were concerning, of course, but Tony was honestly just grateful. He finally felt like he could breathe again, and he could move without feeling like his chest was going to implode. He took a very, very long piss first thing, then got himself rehydrated and fed. Right about the time Tony was finishing his meager meal, he saw Bucky's head and shoulders breach the gentle waves a short distance from the shore. 

Tony didn't much feel like swimming, but it  _ was  _ hot, and he didn't want to sit around in sandy jeans all day, so he stripped down before Bucky got much closer and pulled on the pair of swim trunks that had been in the bag Bucky brought him from his yacht the day before. He felt a little better, then, and once he was waist deep in the ocean, he felt almost like normal again. 

“Hi, Tony,” Bucky said softly, swimming close and wrapping a few tentacles around Tony's legs and one around his waist, presumably to keep himself anchored in one spot. 

“What's _Kraken_?” Tony asked, smirking. Bucky snorted and shook his head at the terrible joke. Tony's smirk turned into a grin. “Hey, that took me like, a whole five minutes to think of. Give me some credit.”

“Krakens are terrifying,” Bucky said flatly. Tony raised an eyebrow in challenge, but Bucky shook his head. “Here.” He lifted a different tentacle from the water, and held carefully in the coil was another necklace, this one even more intricate than the last. The focus of this one was a different gemstone - and it was almost the same shade of blue as the arc reactor. There were dozens more alongside it, all much smaller and in varying shades of dark blue and red. 

“Holy shit,” Tony said softly. He gently cupped the big gemstone, about the size of a quarter, with his fingers. “Did you - did you make this?”

Bucky nodded, looking bashful again. “It's for you. If you want it.” The little coil held tight to the necklace, almost like it didn't want to give it up. 

Tony looked carefully from the necklace to Bucky. “Does this have some sort of significance that I'm missing, here?” he asked, not unkindly. Bucky flushed, turning light purple from his cheeks, down his neck, a little across his shoulders, and through part of his chest. 

“For… me, yes,” Bucky answered slowly, his eyes on the necklace and not on Tony. “Not for you, though. It's not as if I know what other mers like me do, so I'm sort of… borrowing the idea from some other mers I stayed with for a time.”

“Will you tell me what it means to you?” Tony asked, not quite taking the necklace, but trailing his fingers along the smaller gemstones. They'd been shaped, clearly, but Tony didn't know what with. There weren't any holes or anchorings in the stones, they were held in place only by whatever odd string made up the rest of the necklace. Tony wasn't certain he knew what material this was, but it was soft. 

“The other mers,” Bucky started, “they made things like this a lot. They gave them to each other for every occasion.”

“And what's this occasion?”

Bucky looked at Tony from under his eyelashes, his long hair clinging to his shoulders and a stray piece caught along the edge of his jaw. “Can you wear it now, and I’ll tell you later, if it matters?” He lifted his hand and fiddled with the necklace for a moment until it came apart. 

“All right,” Tony sighed a bit. “But I'll get it out of you somehow.” He smiled a bit as he ducked his head for Bucky to fasten the necklace around his neck. Bucky tugged the other necklace away at the same time, and Tony frowned. “I like that one, too.”

“Wear it as a bracelet, then,” Bucky said with a snort. Two tentacles came up to carefully loop the first necklace around Tony's wrist like he’d done with it the first time, but tighter and more secure. Tony grinned once it was in place. “Do you wanna go back to shore?”

“No,” Tony said with a shrug. “Might not be up for much of a swim right now, but just this is fine.”

“What happened?” Bucky asked with a frown. 

“Something with the arc reactor,” Tony sighed. He shook his head a little. “I don't know what it was, or why it happened. I felt sort of like I did when I first got it, though. It was… honestly, it fucking sucked. But it stopped a little while ago, and I'm mostly back to normal, now. I'll have to hope someone finds me soon, though, and I can get back to California quickly. No telling what the problem is, and I don't know how to fix it, especially not here without any of my equipment or tools.”

Bucky's hand moved to hover over the arc reactor, a worried look on his face. “I wanna help.” He looked at Tony with a frown. “I don't think I could get you to where the other humans are, though, not without you needin’ food and water and things like that. They're a long way away, and tryin’ to go the whole way over the surface would be hard.” 

“They'll get someone out here to find me,” Tony said, sounding more confident than he felt. “I was supposed to call my friend-slash-boss every other day and let her know I hadn't drank myself to death or fell overboard and drowned.” He gave a small, humorless chuckle. “She'd know something had happened when I didn't call yesterday or the day before that or whatever day it was I was supposed to get in touch with her.” In his panic from the storms, Tony thought he might have forgotten to let Pepper know he wasn't dead yet. “It's probably just a matter of time, but how _much_ time is the question.”

“There ain't any boats around right now,” Bucky said quietly, sadly. “I - I know you can't stay here. I know that. But I don't even want you to if it means you're gonna hurt.” He let his hand rest carefully over the arc reactor. Tony was surprised that he didn't tense or flinch. He couldn't even bear for Pepper to touch it anymore…

“No reason you couldn't swim over to my private beach in Malibu, at least every now and again,” Tony said with a half of a smile that he didn't really feel. He didn't know why it hadn't really occurred to him that when he left this shitty island, he would be leaving _Bucky_ , too. That sucked. 

“Thought you said not to go near the other humans,” Bucky said with a grimace of a smile. “Don't wanna wind up in a tank for folks to gawk at. Not like that dolphin described.” 

“I wouldn't let that happen,” Tony said with an easy shrug. He wouldn't, either. It didn't matter if the entire world found out about Bucky. He'd beat them off with a damn stick if he had to. Bucky was his. 

But, he wasn't. Tony almost shook his head. He didn't know where that thought had come from Bucky wasn't  _ his _ , not in any way, shape, or form. 

He might want Bucky to be, though, and that was a little terrifying and awkward. 

“Anyway,” Tony said, waving that away and scrambling for a new subject. “You made this, yeah?” He lifted his hand and ran his fingers along the big stone in the center of the necklace. “What's it made from?”

“A shell,” Bucky said, quietly, but proudly. “Have to dig for it, around the reefs, mostly, but they're pretty, and easy enough to shape without breaking to pieces.”

“I wonder what kind of shell,” Tony said thoughtfully. “I feel like I've seen something like this before. The stone, I mean, not the necklace.” He smirked. “Pretty sure no one has ever seen anything like this necklace.”

“Not of mine,” Bucky admitted, a little sad, a little quiet, but still with a smile on his face. He gently unraveled his tentacles from Tony's legs and waist but left just the one around Tony's wrist, as always. “Come on, go to the shore. I can get some other things and show you how.” 

“If it means I don't have to sit here with nothing to do for the next however long it takes before someone finds me, then absolutely,” Tony said with a laugh. Bucky rolled his eyes as he tugged Tony along behind him, now acting as if he was impatient. Tony finally got to shore and sat where he was still mostly in the water, submerged to his hips. 

Bucky slinked back to the deeper bits a little slowly, and then he vanished, quick as lightning. Tony was a little envious. He wished he could move that fast - even if only in water, it would be amazing. 

Tony sat with his elbows braced on his knees for a while, just staring out at the water. He'd put his sunglasses on before doing anything else earlier, and they helped with the glare of the sun reflecting from the water. Tony thought it would be a short wait, that he would just relax until Bucky returned. 

But then his chest flared with pain again, and Tony nearly fell to the side from the shock of it. He clutched at his chest just under the arc reactor, not quite able to touch it because it hurt so badly. He groaned and curled over on himself, cursing internally. What was  _ happening  _ to him? 

It didn't last nearly as long this time, thankfully, but Tony wasn't all that grateful in the first place. The arc reactor wasn't supposed to hurt like that. Never like that. 

Almost as fast as the pain had hit Tony, it eased off and vanished nearly entirely. Tony was still reeling from it when Bucky surfaced and swam up alongside him. Tony was rubbing tenderly at his chest, still breathing hard. 

“It happened again,” Bucky said, his expression and tone both grim. Tony only nodded. “It - it was the magic in the necklace. It did somethin’ to it. The arc reactor. Shit.” He spun in a tight, angry circle. “It's all my fault.”

“No,” Tony said, shaking his head. “It isn't, Bucky. Don't think that.” 

“I gave you the damn thing,” Bucky said, jerking back around to look at Tony, his eyes anguished. 

“And you said it shouldn't have interfered with the arc reactor,” Tony reminded him. “That it did isn't your fault. I didn't know magic existed or that this new element I made would be affected by it. And you couldn't have known either. There's no blame in a situation like this. It just happened. I just need to figure out what to do about it.”

Bucky chewed on his bottom lip for a long moment, his tentacles swirling in the sand beneath him. Tony had the mental image of someone twisting their hands together anxiously. There was a similar feeling toward the movement. 

“I could get the thing,” Bucky said. He nodded at Tony's chest. “The cube that looks like that. It might help, right? At least until your humans come to get you.”

“And what happens if they come while you're gone?” Tony asked, feeling unreasonably upset by that thought. “I don't want to - to leave, not without at least getting to say goodbye.”

“Ain't gonna let you say goodbye anyway, doll,” Bucky said with that same look of determination he'd had on his face last night. “California, right? Malibu?”

Tony nodded. “I have my own private beach. Big ass mansion built on the cliffs overlooking the water.”

“I'll find it, then,” Bucky said. “If I'm not back before they find you. I'll get there.” 

“Do you have to leave right now?” Tony asked, fully aware of the soft pleading in his voice. Bucky shook his head slowly, and Tony breathed a sigh of relief. “Then just… just wait a while. Until tomorrow. Let me have today, at least. Show me how to make things like you do. I can cook again in a little while.”

“You - you don't want me to go get it?” Bucky asked hesitantly.

“I just don't want to be alone again,” Tony admitted without looking at Bucky. “I don't know that anything you find would be able to help, honestly. But you, being here with me? I  _ know  _ that helps. I'm not keen on giving that up.” 

“All right,” Bucky said gently. He settled into the sand beside Tony and several of his tentacles wound tight around him. The one around Tony's waist was a little more snug than usual, and the one around his wrist really didn't want to let go. His ankle and calf and thigh all got the same treatment, but Tony didn't mind at all. It was… nice. 

They sat just like that for a long while, with Bucky taking bits and bobs and odd, crude tools from a little bag he'd brought with him. Tony was a fast study, and while he was patient with Bucky's instructions, he couldn't quite seem to get what he was working on to form the way he wanted it to. Bucky said it was probably the magic, and Tony didn't mind enough to argue with him, just kept working. 


	6. A2: Infinity Gems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2143 words

Bucky left that night, even after Tony asked him not to worry about getting whatever cube he was talking about. Tony didn't want him to go. He didn't want to be alone for the several days it was going to take Bucky to get all the way to the cube and back. But Bucky felt  _ certain _ the cube would help them. Tony didn't know why, and he didn't really ask. He was half convinced by the time he was wrapped in his blanket, alone on the beach, that he'd never see Bucky again. He wasn't sure why that hurt so very badly. 

The first day of Tony's isolation wasn't as terrible as he'd feared it would be. His chest ached, but not as badly as before, not yet. He had a sinking feeling it would get worse, but he tried to keep that thought pushed to the back of his mind. He made a fool out of himself trying to use his shirt as a fishing net - unsuccessfully - and mostly just arranged and rearranged what few supplies he had. He drank himself to sleep that night, when the loneliness began to feel crushing. 

For the better part of the second day, Tony was hungover and miserable, and he did something he very rarely ever allowed himself to do. He wallowed. He didn't have any projects to work on, didn't have any meetings to attend, didn't have Pepper to harass him into behaving somewhat decently, and he didn't have JARVIS to guilt him into taking care of himself. 

He still found he couldn't maintain that for terribly long. The pain was worse today, but he scraped himself together enough to get some water and a few bites of food - cold, canned beans, this time - and then he found the travel bottle of soap. He scrubbed himself down right there in the ocean, and while he felt a little guilty for it, he didn't exactly have many options. Clean, no longer hungover, and aching, Tony sat on the beach and fiddled with the things Bucky had left behind from when he was teaching Tony to make jewelry the way he did. 

That kept Tony entertained, mostly, until it was almost too dark to see, and then he got a small fire going and cooked himself dinner. It was tomato soup, which wasn't much, but he had a can of peaches, too, and those were pretty good as dessert. 

He found himself staring out at the ocean as he let the fire burn itself out. He missed Bucky something awful, and he didn't quite understand why. He hadn't known Bucky for long, and it wasn't like Bucky really could go to Malibu and come visit him - it wasn't safe for him. But Tony missed him, anyway, and he almost - almost, but not quite - didn't even want to be rescued if it meant he'd have to leave Bucky behind. 

Tony slept badly that night, his old nightmares from his time in Afghanistan haunting him. The pain in his chest was severe enough to wake him from a brutal nightmare where he was remembering Yinsen giving him surgery without anesthesia, and it sent him straight into a panic attack. It took entirely too long for him to come down from that extreme edge, and by the time he did, he was so exhausted he slipped straight back to sleep.

That third day was spent lying there doing absolutely nothing. His chest ached horribly again, and he didn't have any solutions for dealing with that pain. He didn't eat, barely drank any water, and barely noticed when the pain lessened. He wasn't quite right from the night of horrors, lack of coffee, and being so desperately isolated. He was a social creature. He needed and craved conversation and social stimulation, even if it only came from JARVIS. 

Tony hadn't moved, but he also hadn't slept, by the time the sun began to rise on the fourth day. He ignored the light splashing from the water. It was just the waves or a fish. The first few times he’d heard fish splashing around, he'd thought Bucky had changed his mind and come back. His disappointment when he realized he was wrong had been strangely crushing. He was  _ Tony Stark _ . He didn't like people so much, or so quickly. He had Rhodey and Pepper and JARVIS and his bots. Those were all he needed. He didn't understand why he liked Bucky so much, but it was just a fluke. Surely. 

“Tony?” 

Soft, wet tentacles curled around Tony's wrist and skimmed along his arm and calf. Tony peeled his eyes open to look up. He was half sure he was dreaming, but Bucky was there, leaning over him just a little. A few droplets of water dripped on Tony's chest, and they were cold. 

“Doll, you don't look so good. Here.” Bucky grabbed one of the bottles of water with a tentacle and opened it with his hand, then held it out to him. Two tentacles wrapped around Tony's back and shoulders when Tony tried to sit up to help support him. Tony guzzled the water down, surprised at how thirsty he was. Bucky grabbed another bottle immediately and opened that one as well. Tony didn't drink that one as fast, but he did sip at it. 

“Sorry,” Tony said roughly. 

“Ain't got nothin’ to be sorry for,” Bucky said, shaking his head. “Get somethin’ to eat first.” He inched along in the sand, which he'd admitted was difficult to move through, and picked through Tony's stash of cans rapidly, using a few of his tentacles to help. When he came back to Tony's side, he had a can of pear halves already opened. 

Tony fished one of them out with his fingers and nibbled at it slowly. The sugar helped to make him feel better almost immediately. “Did you find what you went looking for?” Tony asked, looking at Bucky curiously. He didn't admit how much he'd missed Bucky, but he did lean heavily against the tentacles that had wrapped around him once more. 

Bucky hummed and nodded. One tentacle stretched across the sand for another little bag like the one he'd brought his supplies in the day he left. He sat it on the blanket beside Tony and opened it with his tentacles. The brilliant blue light that shone out of it was almost blinding in its intensity. 

“Do you know what it is?” Bucky asked curiously. He looked up at Tony and tipped his head to the side. “It feels the same as your arc reactor. Same… resonance, I guess you'd call it.” 

“Maybe,” Tony said softly. “I… I thought Howard had found it, though. I didn't think it was still at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Dunno who that is,” Bucky said, shaking his head, “but this was right where I found it the first time, way back when. Maybe there was more than one?” 

“I - maybe,” Tony said doubtfully. He reached out but didn't quite touch it. “It's called the Tesseract. Or, that's what Howard's was called. Maybe this one is different.”

“Says it's space,” Bucky said softly, the faraway look in his eyes again, as he stared off in the distance. “It can - move space. Or things in space. The same, or different. Both, neither. Whatever you want.” Bucky's tentacle curled around the cube and dropped it into Tony's hand. He blinked his eyes and shook his head. “Just tell it what you want it to do, and it’ll do it. It likes you. Dunno why.” 

Tony could feel that. That it  _ liked _ him. It was strange, but not unpleasant. He frowned down at it, then up at Bucky. “I don't know what I'm supposed to tell it to do. I - I don't want to leave yet. Not without you, anyway.” It couldn't help with that. The cube sort of… spoke. Directly into Tony's mind. It was weird, thinking thoughts that weren't his. 

Bucky gave Tony a sad smile. “Gonna have to, sweetheart. You can't stay here, not with the arc reactor messin’ up like it is.” Tony knew that, but… 

“What if I didn't have the arc reactor,” he murmured, looking at the cube and speaking almost exactly as the thought appeared in his mind. His eyes widened and he jerked his head up to look at Bucky. “But - I  _ can't _ -”

“It'll take the shrapnel, too,” Bucky said quietly. He tapped his temple. “I can hear it, still. Not as loud, not like before. But it's still there.” He moved his hand down slowly and reached for Tony's chest. He rested his palm over the arc reactor. “It says it can get rid of it, Tony. Do you want it to?”

Tony didn't know.  _ Did _ he want to get rid of the arc reactor? He’d had it for almost a year now. He was pretty well adjusted to having it. It was  _ part  _ of him now. 

“What - what about my chest?” Tony asked. He slid his free hand up to rest underneath the arc reactor. “Yinsen had to cut out part of my sternum. And… everything has moved to accommodate the arc reactor. It's all messed up in there now.” 

They both fell silent as the cube explained. It needed something to use to replace the damaged area, but it could do it. It moved things. That was its purpose. Through infinitely small spaces or infinitely large spaces, it didn't matter. It could take them both to the ends of the universe, if they chose. Tony wasn't keen on that, but…

He could have the arc reactor gone. He wouldn't have to worry about the shrapnel. About anyone removing the arc reactor to try to kill him. No more horrible chest pain, no more aches when it was even just a little cold out. He would have all his movement back, and it wouldn't hurt to exercise anymore. No more breathing problems from having the arc reactor pressing against his lungs. He wouldn't have to deal with another severe bout of pneumonia, like last winter, because of his compromised immune system and diminished lung capacity. 

“Okay,” Tony said, his voice hoarse and choked. “Okay, I'll do it.” 

Bucky curled his hand over Tony's on top of the cube. “Use one of my tentacles for whatever he needs,” Bucky said, that same look of determination on his face. 

“No,” Tony argued. “Bucky -”

“Yes,” Bucky said, mulish and stubborn. “I want to.” He looked down at the cube. “Do it.” 

A flare of bright, blinding blue light engulfed both of them. Tony squeezed his eyes shut. He expected pain, expected  _ agony _ . There was nothing at all, really, save for a very cold feeling in his chest, but it didn't hurt at all. 

He gasped when the cold feeling suddenly evaporated. He could  _ breathe _ . He hadn't been able to truly breathe in so long. He could have cried, but he was too busy searching over every inch of Bucky, looking for any changes. Bucky held up a few of his tentacles, side-by-side. Two of them were now several inches shorter, but that was all. They weren't mangled or missing or chopped away. They were just a little shorter. 

“Huh,” Tony said. Then he laughed. Bucky gave him a surprised look for only a second, and then he laughed with him, tossing his arm and more of his tentacles around Tony and drawing him in close. 

“I was so worried,” Bucky said into Tony hair. “I'm glad that worked.” He pressed a kiss to Tony's temple. 

“God, me too,” Tony agreed. He turned his head and captured Bucky's lips in a soft kiss. “Thank you, Bucky. For going to get the cube, for offering up a part of yourself like that. For - for worrying, even. I don't deserve it.” 

“You do,” Bucky said softly. 

Tony hummed, but he didn't argue, just kissed Bucky again. He slid one hand down Bucky's side and realized Bucky's skin was starting to dry out. He pulled away and smiled. “Come on, let's go to the water. You need it.” He disentangled himself from Bucky's tentacles, but there wasn't much he could do to help Bucky get to the water. Bucky moved sluggishly, and Tony felt guilty for keeping him out of the water for so long. 

“‘m fine,” Bucky said, waving Tony's concern away. “Could have stayed out another fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“Doubt it,” Tony snorted. “Anyway, you don't have to.” He cupped some seawater in his hands and poured it over Bucky's skin to get it wet again. It helped, a tiny bit, he thought. “I could use the cube to move us to Malibu,” Tony said thoughtfully. “You could see the mansion, know where to come find me?”

“Not yet,” Bucky said, almost pleading. “Tomorrow?”

Tony smiled. “Tomorrow,” he agreed. 


	7. R3: Science and Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1764 words

The next day, as agreed, Tony asked the cube to take them to his private beach in Malibu. The bright blue glow swallowed them whole, there was a strange tug right behind Tony's gut, and then the glow faded, and there they were. The mansion loomed over them, and Tony could have collapsed to his knees if Bucky weren't wrapped around him like the literal octopus he was. Tony was grateful they were still in the water. He hadn't specified. He supposed the cube was a bit better with directions than Tony himself was. 

“Okay,” Bucky said, his tentacles spreading out in the water around them. He nodded to Tony. “I know these waters. I'll be able to find my way here again.” 

“That is really cool,” Tony said, amazed by that particular navigation skill. “Seriously, you've got to try to explain how that works at some point. I have to know.” 

Bucky gave him a small smile. “We'll see.” He tightened his tentacles around Tony again. “Take us back. I can't stay around here, right?”

“I wish you could,” Tony said softly, sadly. He sent a thought to the cube, and it tugged them through space - or tugged space around them, Tony wasn't sure which - and they were back at the tiny island. “I can use this to come back here in a couple days, if you want?” Tony offered.

“I… I'll come see you,” Bucky said, a thoughtful look on his face. He looked over at the beach and nodded. “Can I have that? The arc reactor?” 

Tony hadn't realized the arc reactor - casing, electromagnet, and all - hadn't just vanished into thin air. It was lying there on the sand, though, just waiting for someone to come by and pick it up. 

“Why?” Tony asked, a little apprehensive about giving something like that away - even to Bucky - without first knowing for what he wanted it.

“There's a witch,” Bucky said slowly. “She's like me. Alone. Only one of her kind she's ever seen. She trades her magic for things. The more magic she gives, the more valuable the trade has to be.” He curls his hand around his shoulder where his missing arm once was. “I traded her a lot to get her to make the pain stop. She did, though. It hasn't so much as tingled. I'll need something big, for what I'm asking. She won't know what it is, but it looks and resonates like the cube. Maybe she'll think it's part of it. I'll let her make her own assumptions.”

“What do you want the magic for?” Tony asked, wary and worried. 

Bucky looked at Tony with his head tipped to the side. “What else? Legs.” 

Tony sucked in a sharp breath. “Are you really sure about that?” He curled his fingers around Bucky's wrist. “You'd be leaving behind everything you know.”

“It isn't much,” Bucky said quietly. “My life is… well, it  _ was _ dull. Before you.” He pulled away from Tony, slowly, and gave Tony a small, but sad smile. “You don’t have to want me around, Tony. It’s fine. I figure I can make my way around your human world pretty well. I learn things pretty quick, and I’ll pick up on all the shit I don’t know.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Tony said, almost snappish. “I just - I don’t want you to leave behind everything you know and then come to regret it. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, you know?”

“That - that doesn’t make any sense,” Bucky said, shaking his head. “But it doesn’t matter. I want this. I’ve wanted it for a while. I guess you’re finally giving me a reason, a push. Been fascinated by humans and all their stuff for a damn long time now. Always wanted to live on land, see all that stuff you kept talking about the other day.”

Tony took a deep, slow breath. “If you’re sure - and I mean  _ absolutely positive _ you want this, then I do, too. How will you get to Malibu, though? Isn’t it, like, instant? The legs thing?”

Bucky snorted. “No? That’d be stupid. I’d die at the bottom before I could make it anywhere near the surface, and then I’d die just tryin’ to swim anywhere. The witch don’t exactly live close to a shore, Tony. She’s in the dark parts ‘bout halfway down this deep trench.”

“Oh,” Tony said quietly, immediately trying to erase all his assumptions made based on a stupid Disney movie. It was only natural that reality - even one as crazy as this - should be different. “All right, then. I don’t know how to tell you to contact me if you need anything, though. This cube seems pretty instant, and with everything that just happened out here, I don’t imagine Pepper or Rhodey will be keen on me getting straight back to work, not even if that’s exactly what I want to do, so I’ll probably have plenty of free time still.” He twirled his fingers along the tiny, seemingly delicate little suckers along the tentacle that was wrapped around his wrist. “I want to be able to help you if you need anything.”

“Should be fine, Tony,” Bucky said, his smile a little stronger and a lot less sad this time. “But, if I do, the necklace’ll get real hot.” He lifted his hand and rubbed his thumb along the big gem in the center of the necklace. “Won’t burn or anythin’, but you’ll notice it. And the cube can bring you to me, I think, even without you knowin’ where I am. But I doubt I’ll need anythin’ like that.”

“I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Tony said with a smile. “As you can see from the fuckery that is this situation and most of my entire life, I tend to need back up plans for my back up plans.” He smirked, a little tired, and Bucky chuckled. He kissed Tony’s cheek and squeezed his hand. “I don’t want you to go, even if I know I’ll see you again. Seems weird.”

It was fucking with his head and his chest. Granted, he’d just had the arc reactor literally shoved out of his chest by a magical cube, and that was enough weird to last him his entire goddamn life, but his had to throw in Bucky and a magic sea witch on top of that, too. Plus the cube was like, instant teleportation. He didn’t know what his life had turned into, but he’d be grateful when it resemebled something normal again. 

“Not weird at all, Tony,” Bucky said. “Not to me, least ways.” He swam just a little closer and all his tentacles wrapped around Tony and held tight as his arm circled Tony’s shoulders and Bucky pressed in close for a hug. Tony immediately returned it. He was going to miss the affection from all these tentacles, that was for certain. He was touch starved, sue him. 

They stood like that for a long time, not kissing or anything else, just wrapped in each others arms - and tentacles. It was soothing, in a way. Tony knew it couldn’t last forever, but it ended a little before he wanted it to. He pulled away and gave Bucky a smile anyway. Bucky curled his hand around Tony’s jaw and kissed him, soft and slow and gentle. Tony almost wanted to turn it into something else, wanted to make it more than what it was - a goodbye - but he didn’t quite have it in him. Instead, he kissed back in the same way Bucky kissed him, soft, gentle kisses and nips. 

Bucky completely drew away, then, save for the one last tentacle around Tony’s wrist. “Go, Tony. Go back home. Make sure your chest is all right now, with the arc reactor gone.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to come up with a story to explain that,” Tony mused with a slight smile. He waved that thought away. “How long do you think it will take before I get to see you again?”

“Couple days, maybe,” Bucky said with a shrug. “Not sure.” He swam alongside Tony as Tony walked back to the shore, but he remained in the water while Tony went up on the sand. Tony grabbed the arc reactor and held it in his hand for a moment.

The arc reactor was a brilliant piece of technology. He’d never  _ wanted _ that kind of body modification - to put it lightly - but damn if it wasn’t a beauty, now. The most scientifically advanced thing on the planet, probably. And he was about to give it to a mer to give to a sea witch. What the fuck was his life? It didn’t matter, though. He could build more. He already had two spares back in his workshop. This one could go to Bucky. He could make that sacrifice if it meant Bucky got what he really wanted. He owed Bucky so much, after all.

He stepped back into the water and pressed the arc reactor into Bucky’s hand. “Science is my whole life,” Tony said quietly. “I can’t promise that it won’t be, and I won’t. But I’d like to share that with you, when you’re finally able to walk on land with me.”

Bucky gave Tony a brilliant, beautiful smile that lit up his entire face. “I’d like that Tony. Thank you.” 

Tony gave Bucky one last quick kiss, and Bucky slid away from him into deeper waters. He didn’t seem as willing to vanish this time, but he did eventually. Tony watched until he was certain Bucky was long gone, and then he faced his little camp from the last rough week. Most of the food and water was gone, and he knew he wouldn’t have been able to survive out here for a whole lot longer, but that was okay. He shoved his things into the black duffle bag randomly, unwilling to leave the mess to get dragged into the ocean. When he came across the bag of Bucky’s tools and supplies, though, he held those in his hand and didn’t put them down. Those were staying with him. He’d gotten fairly good at it that one day he’d spent working on it for hours on end, and now that he’d have his workshop back, he thought he might actually be able to tie something in the necklace the same way Bucky did. It’d have to be special, though. He’d figure it out when he got there.

In the end, going home was as simple as asking the cube.


	8. K1: Shapeshifters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1874 words

The cube had replaced Tony's sternum and moved everything back where it was supposed to be. There wasn't even a scar to show where it had once been. Explaining everything to Pepper had been interesting enough, to say the least, but she was at least good enough to come up with a quick story about an experimental surgery and scar treatment plan that had fixed Tony's issues with the arc reactor. She hadn't publicly announced he was missing, either, though she'd had JARVIS searching along with the Coast Guard for any signs of him. The official story was that Tony had avoided the storm and headed back for home, but his communications array had been damaged. It was enough to quell any rumors about him being ‘missing,’ at least, and he'd taken Pepper to dinner, publicly, to show he was back and perfectly healthy. 

Tony spent a lot of time down in his ‘shop, waiting for the necklace to burn hot as he studied the magic cube. No one knew he had it, and he planned on keeping it that way. Not even Pepper knew where he was keeping it locked away. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, not that at all, he just didn't want anyone to find out somehow and then try to use her to get to it. 

When he wasn't in his ‘shop, he was down on the beach. Pepper even joined him, the third night, as he waited for Bucky to somehow appear the way he always had at the little desert island. Tony spent that time telling Pepper about Bucky. About how nice he was, how clever, how good he'd been at the stupid carnival game Tony had rigged up, and about how he'd made both pieces of jewelry Tony never took off. Pepper thought he sounded sweet, too, but she was also worried for Tony. He was pretty sure Pepper thought he'd hallucinated Bucky to give himself someone to talk to while he was trapped out there, but he didn't have any proof to the contrary to prove her wrong, so he didn't call her out on her suspicion, even if it stung. 

Tony was getting ready to leave the beach for the night - it was late, and Pepper had mostly talked him into it - when he saw someone swimming in the water. They were still a fair distance out, but Tony  _ knew _ . He stood slowly and walked to the water, went straight in, despite wearing jeans. 

“Tony?” Pepper called, concern clear in her tone. She joined him, not caring a bit that some of the spray was soaking her pencil skirt. “Oh my god, is someone out there at this time of night? That's so dangerous!” She held her hand to her mouth.

“That's Bucky,” Tony said, his voice full of soft wonder. His face split into a wide grin and he turned to look at her. “It's him.”

She gave him a skeptical look.”Tony, how could it be?” She frowned and rested her hand on his forearm, above the necklace-turned-bracelet. “That little island was hundreds of miles away. And… how would he even know where to go?” She was still playing along, at least, even if Tony could tell she was just humoring him. 

“I brought him here,” he said. “The first time we used the cube to go anywhere. We came here, so he'd know where to go. He said he'd find me, and he did.” He looked out at the water, and the person had moved closer. He could make out Bucky's broad shoulders and his long hair, now. Tony grinned and waved, and Bucky lifted his arm to wave back. 

“It's - it's really him?” Pepper asked, shocked, though Tony heard what she meant.  _ He's real _ ? 

Tony plowed straight into the water, ignoring Pepper's call to  _ wait _ . He was done waiting. He'd been waiting for three days. He wanted Bucky.

They crashed together just as a wave crested over their heads. Bucky's tentacles caught Tony and held him fast and strong, keeping him upright and his head above the water. Tony laughed as he threw his arms around Bucky and kissed him like he hadn't seen him in months, not days. He didn't care, and Bucky kissed him the same way. 

When they parted, Tony lifted his wrist where the same little tentacle as always was curled around his wrist. “I thought you were getting legs?” He raised his eyebrows. 

“Go to shore,” Bucky said, a wild feral grin on his face. “I’ll show you.” 

They swam back together, Bucky never letting go of Tony. Pepper was still standing knee-deep in the water, her eyes wide. Tony laughed when another wave broke over them and Bucky had to catch him again to keep him from falling and rolling across the sand. 

“He has  _ tentacles _ ,” Pepper said, sounding slightly mystified and just a little bit horrified.

“They're great,” Tony said with a laugh. “Very useful.” He stood and waved to Bucky. “Pepper, meet Bucky. Bucky, this is Pepper. I told you about her.”

“Nice to meet you,” Bucky said with a little dip of his head. “Hang on.” He lifted his hand and a tentacle and twisted it around his wrist a bit. It was made of shells, but it was different from the sort of thing Bucky had made. Tony didn't know how to explain it, but he just  _ knew  _ it was magical, too. Like the cube, but different. There was a dark red stone on the bracelet, and Bucky curled one tiny coil around it for a moment. A flash engulfed him, and then he was sitting there beside Tony in the water, his knees poking up out of the surf. He grinned widely. 

Tony gaped and immediately reached down to grab Bucky's arm to help him stand. “Oh my god, you have legs.”

“That was the point, doll.” He allowed Tony to pull him up, and he rested a little heavily against Tony's side, his arm curling around Tony's shoulders. “Gimme a minute to figure out how to walk again. Tried it out, earlier today, and it's damn hard. Never had to do nothin’ like this before.”

“Well, you've only got two now instead of eight,” Tony said with a grin of his own. Bucky didn't look much different, overall. He wasn't quite as broad, and his skin was no longer gray, but lightly tanned instead. He was still missing his arm, but Tony could now see the actual scars around his shoulder, where he couldn't before. 

“Oh, god,” Pepper said. “Hang on. You two get out of the water. I'll grab towels.” She jogged out of the surf and headed for the little, one-bedroom beach house that was nestled up against the cliffs. 

Tony helped Bucky walk out of the water, and they sat heavily in the chairs around the fire pit Tony had made earlier. “I was starting to worry,” Tony admitted.

“Didn't wanna show up and not know how to walk,” Bucky said with a smile. “Woulda been much less fun.” Tony just laughed. “Took a while, for the witch to get the magic right. Thought a lot about what you said, Tony. And if I ever wanna go back to the sea, I can. I'll have to, sometimes, she said. But not too often.” 

“Do you know when? Is there some kind of schedule to this?” Tony asked. “I joke all the time about having my own private island, but I’ll do that, if it'll make things easier.”

“You don't have to,” Bucky said immediately. “I can go in here, swim for a couple days, then come back.” 

“Do you have to go somewhere specific?” Tony needled, already making plans in his head. 

Bucky nodded. “The southern waters, where it's warmest. For ah,” Bucky flushed, and Tony was a little sad that it wasn't that pretty shade of purple this time, but this pink was just as delightful, “for mating season. Not that I ever saw any of my kind there before, but it was just something I had to do. Never thought to question it.” 

“Huh,” Tony said, more out of curiosity than anything else. “Instinct thing, I guess. If you can give me a more specific location, I'll get right on that. When is the next mating season?” 

“Not til next spring,” Bucky said, the pretty flush still on his face. “And you really ain't gotta do that, Tony.” 

“I want to,” Tony insisted. “Don't worry about it. I'm a billionaire, and if I want to spend my money on a private island, I will.” He grinned. “Maybe Pepper will be grateful I'll actually take a vacation willingly for once.”

“You? Go on vacation  _ willingly _ ?” Pepper snorted. Tony looked over at her and grinned. She just shook her head and dropped a towel in his lap, then handed the rest of the stack to Bucky. Tony took one from the top and draped it around Bucky's shoulders to catch the water dripping from his hair. Bucky smiled at him. Pepper had one towel wrapped around her shoulders. “Where?”

“Somewhere in the South Pacific, I think,” Tony mused. “I want an island, Pep.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You made me CEO, Tony. I'm not your PA anymore. Get JARVIS to find your island for you.” 

“Fair enough,” Tony agreed with a shrug. He brightened when he turned to look at Bucky. “I can introduce you to JARVIS, now!”

“I can't wait,” Bucky said with an eager grin. “I wanna know all about your science stuff, Tony.”

“Well, do you think you can manage a bunch of stairs?” Tony asked, nodding his head to the side to indicate the staircase that wound up the cliffside. “If not, we can wait until tomorrow, and we can just stay down here in the beach house.” 

“I'll manage,” Bucky said, his determined face back in place. He stood and held one towel a little awkwardly in front of himself. Tony stepped closer and wrapped the towel around Bucky's hips, tucking one end into the side. 

“Much as I don't mind you wandering around naked, some people think it's indecent,” Tony said with a wink. 

“I don't mind,” Pepper said breezily. “By all means.” She smiled and laughed when Tony gave her a flat look. “What? For being part fish, he's really pretty.”

“I ain't a damn fish,” Bucky said sourly. Tony could hear the thread of amusement under his voice, though, and see the hint of a smile fighting to break free.

“Oh, well, excuse me,” Pepper said dramatically, putting her hand to her chest and batting her eyelashes. “Part squid.” 

Bucky gave her an even more sour expression for that comment, and both Tony and Pepper laughed. Tony dumped the bucket of sand over what was left of the dying fire, then looped one arm around Bucky's waist and led him toward the stairs, chattering endlessly about his ‘bots and JARVIS and all the things he was going to take Bucky to do - including going to a real carnival. 

He was happy. So damn happy, he realized. He hadn't been really, truly happy in a very long time. Hopefully, maybe, things would stay that way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> congrats, you've reached the effective end of the story. next chapter is pure sex, so if that's not your deal, turn back now.   
> hope you liked it.


	9. S2: Heat fic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2372 words
> 
> not "heat" but i felt it still filled the same purpose for the square, and you all get porn either way.
> 
> additional tags that apply only to this chapter: tentacle porn, (does this count as bestiality?), overstimulation, bondage (sort of - tony's being held down), double penetration, sounding (sort of), cum inflation, little bit of biting, orgasm denial, crying (from the overstimulation), choking, begging aaaanddd i think that's all
> 
> wrote this for @[okayantigone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/okayantigone/pseuds/okayantigone) bc she's amazing ♥

When Tony had found out there were a small system of underwater caves on his shiny new (for him) private island, he hadn't thought much about them beyond “neat” and had moved on with whatever project he'd been working on at the time. He'd never expected he'd put them to good use, but here he was, and he wasn't certain he'd ever want to leave. (Well, maybe…)

Bucky had come down much earlier. The caves were accessible, easily, at low tide, but when high tide rolled around, only a few of the inner caves had space and air. Bucky had spent a little over a day and a half exploring them all on his own, appearing in the house during low tide only long enough to pilfer some supplies before vanishing once more. Tony only knew he'd come home at all because of JARVIS, but that was fine. Tony knew Bucky needed this time in the ocean, and he didn't begrudge him that time in the slightest, even if he had missed him a little. 

But then, Bucky had asked him to come with him to the caves, so Tony had gone. Bucky had spent a not insignificant amount of time getting everything Tony would need for staying in the caves for a day or two. Tony hadn't understood why, at first. Now he did. 

Tony was spread out over a towel right at the edge of the water. All the extra towels had been a nice, thoughtful touch on Bucky's part. The rock was worn smooth and soft, but that didn't make it comfortable. The towel helped. 

Bucky thrust one tentacle deep into Tony's ass, making Tony moan and writhe. Tony's moan echoed around the cave, bouncing the sound back at him again and again and making it seem louder and more wanton. One tentacle held both of Tony's arms, crossed, above his head. Another stroked his cock, slow, firm movements that didn't so much relieve any of Tony's nearly agonizing pleasure as they did ratchet it up higher and higher. Two other tentacles held Tony's thighs, keeping them pinned to the stone and spread far, far apart. Two more teased relentlessly at Tony's nipples, the tiny suckers pinching and sucking at the tender buds, keeping Tony peaked on an impossibly high plateau. Bucky's human hand was around Tony's throat, at Tony's request, not squeezing, simply resting there and applying a bit of pressure to either side around his jugular every now and again. 

Tony tried twisting, tried bucking and thrusting his hips, but he couldn't move much at all. He loved it. Bucky kissed him, sharp teeth biting almost too hard at his lips. Tony groaned into the kiss, licking into Bucky's mouth when he allowed it and chasing after the saltwater taste of his tongue. The tentacle in Tony's ass withdrew slowly, lazily, the suckers tugging at Tony's oversensitive rim in the best way. Tony was nearly crying with frustration. He thought, surely, Bucky would break him and kill him before he ever got to come. 

Bucky thrust the tentacle back in, sharper, faster than the last time, and Tony very nearly screamed. “Bucky, baby, please,” he begged, his head tossed back. “Shit, shit. I need to come. So bad. Fuck, you're going to kill me.”

The low, almost dark, chuckle was even more exaggerated in the caves. “You ain't gonna die,” Bucky said, squeezing his hand around Tony's throat - just a little, just for a second or two. “You held out longer than this before we left Malibu.” 

“Not against -” Tony groaned as Bucky twisted the tentacle in his ass just a little deeper. Tony thought it would only take another inch or two before it came out of his throat. “Not against  _ all  _ of you,” he whimpered. He wasn't ashamed, not for whimpering against an assault like this. “Oh  _ fuck _ .” He twisted his head to the side a little, catching Bucky's eye as he panted through another intense thrust. Bucky's cheeks were dark purple, his grayish skin turning the blush an odd color. 

“That's the idea,” Bucky said, dragging the tip of his nose along Tony's cheek. “So pretty for me, doll. All laid out like this.” He kissed Tony gently, which muffled Tony's startled sound when he felt the last tentacle - the one Tony had completely forgotten about - dance around his puffy, tender rim. 

Tears leaked from the corners of Tony's eyes. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle. He was overwhelmed with too much pleasure. He arched his back as Bucky nudged the other tentacle into his ass right alongside the other one, stuffing him full - too full. Tony felt the tentacle around his cock shift at the same time, as well, the thicker part of the arm shifting to circle around the base of Tony's cock, not unlike a cock ring. It certainly felt tight enough. Tony openly sobbed when he felt the skinny tip of the tentacle at the head of his cock, circling the tiny hole there and teasing it. 

They'd experimented with sounding more than a few times, with both Tony and Bucky on the receiving end. Bucky had said watching Tony's face during those times was one of his favorite things in the entire world. And Tony had given Bucky carte blanche to do whatever he liked for this relatively short period of time, excluding the usual things they avoided and maintaining their usual safewords. 

Bucky's mating season wasn't long, but he'd never spent that time with anyone else - there had never been anyone to spend it with. During their ride on the jet to get most of the way to the private island, Bucky had whispered everything he planned to do to Tony. Not that he had to whisper, but it had been seductive in its own way. Tony hadn't imagined Bucky planned to do everything at  _ the same fucking time _ . 

The very tip of the tentacle slipped inside Tony's cock, not even an inch deep, and Tony openly, brokenly, sobbed. The second tentacle was still working its way into his ass, too, and he he already felt stuffed full to bursting. Not to mention the neverending assault to his nipples and the way the tentacles around his wrists and thighs constantly sucked at his skin, like dozens and dozens of hickies left all at the same time. It was too much, too much for one very human man to bear. 

“Bucky, Bucky please,” Tony nearly wailed. “I can't - can't anymore. Please.” He broke off into a thin, reedy moan. Bucky shushed him gently, kissing the tears from his cheeks.

“Little more, Tony,” Bucky said. “You're so good for me, sweetheart. So perfect. Just look at you. All stretched out. Gorgeous.” He smiled at Tony, though it looked blurry through the tears. Bucky bent over him, getting even closer, until he was nearly lying on top of him. “You're perfect, Tony.” He kissed the gemstone necklace he’d given Tony so long ago. He'd never explained what it meant to him, and Tony was too out of sorts to ask now, but he hoped he would remember to ask later.

Tony devolved into helpless muttering, interchanging Bucky's name and curses and the word please senselessly. The words themselves didn't exactly matter. He just needed to say something, needed to get this feeling out somehow since Bucky still hadn't let him come. The tears weren't helping as much as he'd like. 

Tony full out screamed when he felt the two tentacles inside him thrust together, out and back in. Bucky held him tighter and thrust again, out just a little, and in even deeper. Tony gasped and nearly choked, writhing beneath him. Far from hurting, he was so overwhelmingly sensitive by this point that every single point of contact between them felt like a live wire. 

Bucky kissed him hard and squeezed his hand tight around Tony's neck. “Come, doll.” The tiny bit of tentacle inside his urethra slithered slowly out, and the rest of the tentacle pumped fast and hard over his cock, the little suckers adding even more of a devastating punch. Tony came so hard he saw stars, and he would have been half-sure he blacked out for a moment if the assault from everywhere else hadn't still continued. The hand around his neck released immediately, and Tony gasped for air. 

Bucky thrust both tentacles deep inside him once more, and he crushed his mouth to Tony's as his release flooded Tony's insides. Tony was tense with aftershocks as the tentacle continued to pump his cock, milking him for every last drop of come in his balls. He went boneless the moment the tentacle unwrapped from his cock. The one around his wrist and the two over his nipples were quick to follow. Bucky kept Tony's legs pinned as he rested half on top of Tony and half to the side, one of the tentacles inside Tony slipping away, but the other remaining inside him, still thrusting, but slow and lazy. 

Tony half curled into Bucky's arm as he wrapped it around Tony’s shoulders and rubbed his hand up and down Tony's back. Bucky kissed Tony's hair and cheeks and forehead. “You were so amazing. Thank you, Tony.” Even Bucky sounded exhausted now, but he didn't let Tony go, and he didn't drop off to sleep right away. He carefully unwrapped his tentacles from Tony's legs and stretched most of them down to the water, though he used one to grab one of the bottles of water. “Come on, you gotta drink some water, Tony.” He carefully helped Tony sit up only enough not to choke and held the bottle of water for Tony to drink from. 

“I'm going to sleep for the next eight years,” Tony complained, rubbing at his face with one hand and wrapping his other around Bucky's waist. 

“No you won't,” Bucky snorted, smiling into Tony's hair. “I meant it, Tony. Thank you.”

Tony hummed. “Too much to do that more than once a year. Too overwhelming.” He pressed a kiss to Bucky's shoulder. The tentacle still in his ass wiggled just a bit, and Tony pressed his forehead against Bucky's neck, drawing in a sharp breath. “Why?” he whined. 

Another chuckle, soft this time. Bucky nipped at the shell of Tony's ear. “I ain't done yet, doll. Gonna be a bit more. Won't do so much, though. Not again.” 

“You'd kill me,” Tony said, peering up at Bucky with one eye. “I can't go again, not this soon.” He dug his fingers into Bucky's shoulder when the maddening little tentacle found his prostate and began to rub right up against it. “Fuck,” he spat and bit his lip. 

“You sure about that?” Bucky asked, almost arrogant. Another tentacle snaked between them and circled around Tony's soft cock, stroking slowly. Tony hissed at the oversensitivity. “I bet you could go again.” 

Tony didn't agree, not at all, but his body proved him wrong. It took Bucky a solid five minutes of teasing to get any sort of reaction that wasn't oversensitive cringing, but by then, he was already worked up himself and had all his tentacles wrapped around Tony's body to hold him close. He rolled to his back so that Tony was lying on top of him this time, but Tony wasn't going anywhere Bucky didn't want him to. He didn't give Tony much time at all to get warmed up to a second round, but began fucking Tony in earnest immediately, thrusting the shorter, thicker tentacle deep and hard and fast. Tony couldn't do anything but cling to Bucky's shoulders and thrust with the tentacle in his ass and the one around his cock.

In no time at all, the tentacle was filling Tony yet again with more sperm. It wasn't like it would do any good, and Tony's body could only hold so much before it began to spill out of him with every additional thrust. Whatever it was that drove Bucky's instinct to mate obviously wasn't satisfied with that outcome, however, because a second tentacle joined the other, again, and Tony found himself stuffed once more. He felt uncomfortably full of little writhing tentacles and jizz, and when Bucky rolled to put Tony on his back once more, there was a slight bulge at the bottom of his abdomen. Bucky's hand smoothed over it, gentle and tender, as the tentacle around Tony's cock pumped a little faster and harder. 

Tony thought, for sure, he was going to die as both tentacles thrust into him at the same time, stuffing him too full and withdrawing to the point of leaving him feeling nearly empty. Each time they thrust in, they rubbed over his prostate, and one of them even twisted at one point, when both were shoved deep inside him, so that one of the suckers was directly over that spot. Tony very nearly came again at that very second, but Bucky withdrew the tentacles just before he reached that moment. 

Bucky used his human hand around Tony's cock to work him up to his second orgasm. It felt like an explosion as it rocked through Tony's body, but his come dribbled from the tip in thick globs, barely going anywhere. The two tentacles inside Tony stopped deep inside him, and Tony nearly broke down in tears a second time as he was filled yet again with even more of Bucky's come. 

Finally, though, that seemed to be enough for Bucky. Both tentacles slowly, gently tugged out of him, leaving him open and messy. Bucky held Tony close as he carefully and gently bathed away as much of the mess as he could, but as Tony's insides clenched and released repetitively, even more was pushed out.

Bucky peppered Tony's hair and cheeks with soft kisses, rubbing several tentacles delicately over Tony's skin. Tony realized, belatedly, that he was bruised in a few places from fighting their hold so much, and in others, he had red marks from the suckers biting into his skin in one place for an extended period of time. He dropped off to sleep, his body exhausted, before he could do or say much else.


End file.
